MLB Player News

The Royals returned Massey to Triple-A Omaha following Sunday's 4-2 loss to the Blue Jays.

Since Massey joined the Royals as a replacement for one of the 10 players who were placed on the restricted list prior to Thursday's series opener in Toronto, he won't be exposed to waivers even while he comes off the 40-man roster as he heads back to Omaha. Massey made starts in the final two contests of the Royals' four games following his call-up, going 3-for-8 at the dish.

Kim is out of the lineup for Sunday's game against the Diamondbacks

CJ Abrams will fill in at shortstop for Kim, who gets a breather for the Padres' final game before the All-Star break after recording at least one hit while starting in each of the past five contests. Kim should continue to serve as San Diego's primary option at shortstop until Fernando Tatis (wrist) is deemed ready to return from the 60-day injured list for his 2022 debut.

Villar is out of the lineup for Sunday's game against the Brewers, Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle reports.

Though the righty-hitting Villar will see his streak of 13 consecutive starts come to an end Sunday even while the Brewers bring a southpaw (Aaron Ashby) to the mound, the rookie infielder should still have a fairly clear path to playing time. Even though Evan Longoria is back from a recent stint on the injured list, Brandon Crawford's (knee) recent move to the IL will likely result in Thairo Estrada stepping in as the Giants' primary shortstop. That paves the way for Villar to pick up more playing time at second base, though Wilmer Flores will man the keystone in the series finale with Milwaukee.

Urias is out of the lineup for a second consecutive contest in Sunday's series finale in San Francisco.

Though manager Craig Counsell hasn't provided an update yet, Urias' absence from the lineup for the second straight day suggests he may be nursing an injury. Jace Peterson will pick up another start at third base in place of Urias, who takes a .223/.314/.384 slash line for the season into the All-Star break.

Haggerty will start in right field and bat ninth in Sunday's game against the Rangers.

The switch-hitting Haggerty will be making his fourth start in right field in five games and may end up filling the strong side of a platoon at the position with the righty-hitting Dylan Moore, who is on the bench for the second day in a row. Through 11 games in July, Haggerty is hitting .259 with two home runs, two stolen bases, six runs and three RBI.

Haggerty entered Saturday's extra-inning win over the Rangers as a pinch runner in the top of the 10th inning, stole third base and eventually scored the game-winning run.

The speedy Haggerty's swipe of third base, his fourth steal of the year, was key, as it allowed him to score easily when J.P. Crawford laced a single into right field to snap a 2-2 tie. It's been a somewhat momentous first three games of the series for Haggerty, who also notched an inside-the-park home run as part of a three-hit night in Thursday's opening installment against the Rangers.

Andrus went 1-for-4 with a stolen base in a loss to the Astros on Saturday.

The veteran shortstop swiped his fifth bag of the season while also hitting safely for the fourth time in five games. Andrus has gotten on base at an impressive .355 clip over his last 16 games, a sample during which he's also laced six extra-base hits (three doubles, three home runs), driven in 14 runs, drawn eight walks, stolen two bases and scored nine runs.

Stott is out of the lineup for Sunday's game against the Marlins, Alex Coffey of The Philadelphia Inquirer reports.

The lefty-hitting Stott will retreat to the bench with southpaw Trevor Rogers taking the hill for Miami. Yairo Munoz will step in at the keystone as a replacement for Stott, who went 2-for-5 with a pair of doubles, an RBI and a run in Saturday's 10-0 victory.

Gimenez (foot) is starting at second base and batting fifth against the Tigers on Sunday.

Gimenez suffered a foot injury after he was hit by a pitch in Saturday's victory, but the injury appears to be minor since he's ready to go Sunday. The second baseman has gone 4-for-8 with a homer, three RBI and three runs in the first three contests of the series.

Castro will start at first base and bat fifth in Sunday's game against the Guardians.

Castro will wrap up the first half by making his fifth consecutive start, four of which have come at different positions. He went 1-for-3 with a walk in Saturday's 10-0 loss to extend his hitting streak to five contests and is now hitting .281 on the season.